BIG FOOT

MUSCLE: 1949 Series I V8 special POWER: 4.0-litre V8 OWNER: Fred Bolton

FORTY years ago, Fred Bolton was browsing Exchange & Mart, looking for a personalised number plate, when he found FJB 56. “It was my initials and close enough to my year of birth – I was born in 1957,” says Fred, who decided to pay the £250 asking price and drove from his home near Bedford to collect it from Elstree fifilm studios, in Hertfordshire.

When he got there, he found out the cherished plate belonged to a 1949 80in Series I, which belonged to the studios and had appeared in several fifilms and TV series, including Return of the Saint and The Persuaders. Fred, a lifelong Land Rover fan, asked if the Landy was for sale too – and to cut a long story short he picked up both car and plate for £600.

It was bog-standard at the time, but in the four decades that have elapsed since, Fred has modifified his Series I to enhance its performance for off-roading and greenlaning. These mods include replacing its original 1.6 engine with a 4.0-litre Rover V8 for power, and fifitting massive 44-inch wheels, sourced from America, for traction and ground clearance. Fred, an independent Land Rovermechanic, has done all the work himself – including cutting the middle out of a Range Rover chassis to reduce its wheelbase to 80 inches and supply coil-sprung suspension. All drivetrain components have been beefed up to deal with the power from that V8.

“It’s a brilliant off-roader and I’d never part with it, even though I’ve been offered £15k for the number plate alone,” he says.